Park Chan-wook struck a candid note about the state of Korean cinema at a press conference for “ No Other Choice ,” the opening film of the 30th Busan International Film Festival .

The drama, which premiered in Venice last month, is adapted from Donald E. Westlake’s 1997 novel “The Ax” and reimagines the story through the lens of a struggling Korean family.

The film follows a man who is fired from his longtime job at a paper manufacturer. As his prospects dwindle, he goes to brutal lengths to secure employment and protect his family — a narrative Park said resonated with him as an allegory for the struggles of today’s filmmakers. “The vanishing paper trade is not unlike what we face in cinema,” he observed. “Both are industries many once thought indispensable, yet both are fighting

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